Prospering even when you don’t (meditation of Psalm 37)

There’s an ever-present desire in life to prosper, yet everyone who desires to do good inevitably finds those who desire to do evil tend to prosper more.  This is a common phenomenon.  Whenever we feel our good intent or deeds are ignored or get us nowhere, yet we notice another with malevolent intent or deeds succeeds in their way, this truth is borne out in life.

Being that it is so common that those with malicious intent and actions succeed in life, this can easily lead us to throwing our hands in the air.  We are tempted to lose heart in despair, or we become cynical, and we certainly feel disempowered.

This is where bathing in Psalm 37 can assist us no end.

When we read words like, “Don’t fret when people succeed in their ways, when they work their wicked schemes, or envy the success of those who do wrong, for like the grass they’ll wither soon, like plants they will die away,” our intrigue rises, and we are entranced by the metaphor.

Immediately, as we read on, we find there’s an inherent blessing in sowing by the faith of doing what maybe seen as an invisible good.  What I mean by that is, few if any may notice, but there is ONE who notices everything; the only important one from an eternal perspective.

Whenever there is fear for the narcissist who plots their wicked schemes, there is a reciprocal reality, “the LORD laughs at the wicked, he knows their day is coming.”

As we stand in advance of the righteous justice that is about to ensue, our heart is prepared for the justice of vindication, which will shine like the noonday sun at its proper time.

The more we bathe in Psalm 37, the more we may find that there is an invisible nature to life that we often fail to see.  The evil reap their reward, as do those who do good.  Life has a way of evening the ledger, depending on what we do, but it does take years in the process.

The wisdom of God would counsel us to be mindful of these years, to be patient for the decades, and to hold the centuries in respectful regard.  Nobody gets away with anything.  And we are all grass.

“Better the little the righteous have than the wealth of the wicked, for the power of the wicked will be broken, but the LORD upholds the righteous.”

Reading verses like this couplet above (vv. 16-17) we’re admonished that there really is no reason to fall for the temptation of fretting for what mischievous people seem to get away with.

When we’re reminded that the blameless receive divine care, and we take that wisdom on board, we can focus then on doing what we can to live as if for the audience of one.

There truly is no truer peace than the resolve that says, “Despite what I see all around me in this situation, and what is happening to me because I am a threat, I will do good anyway.”

This truly is the essence of Christian living, and it is the design for life in a world where people who do evil seem to get their way.  And in a world where evil seems to reign, there’s only one cogent defence—true belief in the (eventual) justice of God.

It’s no coincidence that this psalm decrees as a theme that I those who do good will inherit the land, that they will prosper materially and not just spiritually.  This is a balm to anyone who has suffered financial loss or abuse at the hands of a fraudster.  And there are many women in this position because of how society treats men and marriage.  Those who have been broken financially are counselled to simply work hard in recovery, to do what they can, and to consider what it will be like when that restoration occurs.  We place much stock in the physical land in this physical life, can you imagine the value of the land in eternity?

The other key theme of this psalm is the inevitability of the wicked perishing.  This is both a warning and an encouragement; a warning to those who are tempted and worse motivated to manipulate and deceive, for those who will listen, for there are many who will not, and it’s an encouragement for those who are committed to good to continue in that vein by faith.

I will conclude with this: the couplet verses 25-26 tell of an older person’s testimony:

“I was young and now I’m old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.  They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be a blessing.”

Perhaps the key to this verse is in the answer to the person who says they have seen the righteous forsaken.  The answer is in the second verse, verse 26: the focus of those who appear to be forsaken is on generosity and not getting ahead.  Only those who are full of faith can live generously whilst in the circumstance that appears to be forlorn.

The measure of our faith is our resilience in adversity, and all that sets us apart from failure here is the commitment to simply do good, to do what we can, to trust that things will work out.

Our focus cannot be about those who prosper in their manipulations and deceit.  There is no life there, only spiritual death in discouragement and despair.

The evidence of the eternal is plain for anybody with insight.  The fact that we do not live here on earth forever, that there is a death for each of us to endure, and that there is good and evil in this world, when the heart evidences there is only one right way, is evidence enough that there is a world beyond, where all things will be made new one day.

It’s worth doing good for, 
and focusing on the good, 
no matter what happens on this earth.

Whenever a person decides to live this way, the way of Psalm 37, they will prosper even when they don’t.  Their faith leads to overcoming temptation for despair, and in transcending the desire to make comparisons that lead to envy, joys are added to peace and hope abounds—despite their apparent circumstances.

This Psalm 37 life is a life to be lived to be believed, and in living it, belief is fortified and assured.